Manifest West is a film in the subgenre of families who move off the grid. Better movies in this category include Captain Fantastic and Leave No Trace. Watch both of them first, maybe shop around a bit, and then circle back to maybe watch this one. It’s survivable.

The flick is about a married couple who take their two daughters to a small house in the middle of a forest and, preferably, off the grid. But the wife has health issues and they both are incapable, by the standards of the State, of taking care of their daughters. Disagreements ensue.

Yeah, this is ok. It’s got some high drama that eventually slips into a bit of dramatic faceoff overkill. I liked the performances generally and thought the two girls were pretty good. The film has a slightly distancing from the impact of events feel due to the story mainly being told from the children’s POV. Events happen sometimes without full detail because the kids don’t always know what’s going on.

I didn’t think the movie ultimately had much to say about thumbing your nose at society, the limits of government control, and the safety and ethics of bombing out on all responsibility, education, and health care. It hits on those, but I’m not sure it hits them well or hard enough. Not until the Ruby Ridge ending which seemed half-baked and a little impromptu.

Overall, it’s watchable if striving for greater purpose or meaning. Good cast and reasonably good filmmaking round out a script looking for balance.

Score: 72